Artists and Writers of Maine
Maine’s most famous full-time resident is, without question, the writer Stephen King. The Bangor-based master of horror has based nearly all of his books in Maine, frequently setting the story in a fictional town called Derry, or an imaginary island by the name of Castle Rock. As such, Mainers have suffered through many films based on King’s novels featuring actors butchering the famous Maine accent; however, he has probably done more to increase the visibility of Maine than anyone else in the world. Stephen King is not the only famous Maine resident in the arts, though. Here are a few other famous writers and artists you may not have known lived in Maine.
Edna St. Vincent Millay’s famous poem, “Renascence,” which was
written about Camden, Maine. Photo by Bethany Jean.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is a famous 19th century poet who was born in the Portland, Maine area and attended Bowdoin College, in Brunswick. Some of Longfellow’s most famous works include “Paul Revere’s Ride” and “Evangeline.” Other poems pay tribute to famous poets of the past, including Keats and Milton. Today, Longfellow is honored in Maine each year on his birthday, with recitals of his work in schools and public spaces throughout the state.
Another poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay, grew up in the town of Camden, Maine. She became an iconic figure of the early 1900s for her poems that honored the independent female spirit, such as “First Fig,” with its well-known verse: “My candle burns at both ends;/ It will not last the night;/ But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends–/ It gives a lovely light!” In 1923, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her poetry.
The famous writer Elwyn Brooks White, better known as E.B. White, lived on a farm in the town of Brooklin, Maine, for twenty-eight years of his life. He was a well-known essayist and fiction writer, and authored the writing reference text The Elements of Style, which is still commonly used today. Perhaps his best-known accomplishments, however, are two of his classic children’s novels — Stuart Little, and Charlotte’s Web.
Abolitionist Harriet Beecher Stowe was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, but she moved to Brunswick, Maine, with her husband Calvin Ellis Stowe, who was a professor at Bowdoin College. Beecher Stowe is well-known for her classic novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which was published in 1852 and had a remarkable effect in swaying opinion against slavery; President Lincoln referred to her as the “little lady” who started the Civil War.
One of America’s most famous painters, Andrew Wyeth, is from Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, but he spent summers in the town of Cushing, Maine. Many of his haunting paintings feature the landscape of Maine. The Farnsworth Art Museum in the town of Rockport has a wide variety of Wyeth’s paintings on display.
The beauty and remoteness of Maine has served as an incredible inspiration for these artists and hundreds of others over the generations. There is no doubt that Maine’s lakes, oceans, and forests will lead thousands of others to create works of art in the coming years. In the meantime, check out some work by these talented individuals — though Stephen King is great, there’s more to Maine than him.
Written by Kathy Hawkins on May 22, 2007
Filed Under Maine, People, History
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